The Spider and the Rats
by AliasCWN
Summary: Dietrich finds that the Rats are not easily fooled.
1. Chapter 1

**The Spider and the Rats**

By: AliasCWN

Chapter 1

The German halftrack circled around in front of the lead truck. Hit by an earlier shell, the truck was immobilized, a sitting duck for another shell. The driver and several other soldiers abandoned the crippled vehicle, seeking cover between two other trucks. The halftrack cut the distance between them, ignoring the truck to target the fleeing men.

One of them fell as bullets cut his legs out from under him. Two others paused long enough to grab his arms and drag him behind another of the trucks.

The German forces closed in, surrounding the beleaguered Americans.

The Americans, a resupply convoy headed for a dug in battalion, had little chance against the German column of halftracks and tanks. Seeing the futility of their resistance, the commander of the convoy conceded defeat. Calling to his men, he ordered them to lay down their arms. The drivers and their escorts watched as their commander raised the white flag.

The German commander ordered his men to cease firing and round up their new prisoners. He watched with satisfaction as his men collected the prisoners and searched the trucks.

"Captain." A lieutenant approached and saluted his officer sharply. "Congratulations Sir, your plan worked perfectly."

The Captain nodded absentmindedly. "Do you have a report for me Lieutenant?"

"Yes Sir." The Lieutenant smiled widely. "We have captured fourteen trucks Sir. Seven are carrying munitions, two are filled with rations, two carry medical supplies, and three are loaded with fuel. Three of the trucks are too damaged to drive but we can divide the loads among the other trucks."

"Very good Lieutenant. What about our losses?"

"Two halftracks were destroyed Sir. Two more were damaged. We have nine dead and four wounded Captain, but none of those are serious." The Lieutenant reported proudly.

"Not even the dead Lieutenant?"

"Excuse me Captain?"

"Never mind Lieutenant." The Captain sighed. "What of the Americans?

"There are thirty prisoners Sir; nine of them are wounded, one appears to have serious injuries. They also have six dead."

"Very well Lieutenant. Have our medics care for the wounded prisoners as soon as they are finished with our own wounded. For now, we'll leave the supplies we can't carry. We'll need one truck to carry the prisoners. I will radio the base and have them send some trucks out to retrieve the supplies. Have the guards supervise the prisoners while they bury their dead. I want to be on our way within the hour."

"Yes Captain, I'll see to it immediately."

"You do that Lieutenant." The Captain murmured under his breath as his subordinate hurried away.

Scanning the desert around him, the Captain searched the dunes for any sign that they had been observed. The heat shimmered off the light colored sand, giving the distant hills a wavy appearance. The only movement he saw in the distance was the occasional dust devil swirling along the desert floor.

Turning to the activity around him, the Captain walked among his troops encouraging them to finish their tasks. Everything was progressing exactly as planned but he was still restless. He was eager to move on to the next phase of the operation; it made him uneasy to be sitting in the open.

The trucks carrying rations were to be left behind until other trucks could arrive from the base to pick them up. They crammed the supplies from the third truck into the others. He moved his men around until he had one of his own trucks empty to transport the prisoners.

Less than an hour later the Lieutenant returned to inform him that the convoy was ready to roll.

"Thank you Lieutenant. Assign one driver to each truck and two extra men to guard the prisoners. Everyone else will remain with me. Send only one halftrack with the convoy, I will need the others to carry out the remainder of our plan."

"Yes Captain."

"Did you find me a working radio from one of the American trucks?"

"Yes Sir."

"Very well. Tell the men to be ready to stage the distress call. Cracking their code yesterday has proven to be very fortuitous timing."

"Yes Sir, I will tell the men to get in position." The Lieutenant rushed to set the stage for the fake distress call. Even as they prepared their ambush, the American trucks were heading for the German base with the prisoners.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Spider and the Rats**

By:ALiasCWN

Chapter 2

"Dietrich!"

"Yeah, it looks like he managed to capture the entire convoy." Having heard the gun shots, the Rat Patrol had raced to investigate. They had arrived too late to keep the convoy from falling to the enemy. Now Troy and Moffitt were sprawled on their stomachs on top of a dune watching the Germans swarm around the trucks.

"I count approximately thirty prisoners. They have some wounded." Moffitt studied the Americans, taking a tally.

"Yeah, but we can't take on Dietrich's entire column; there are just too many for us to tackle."

The two men fell silent as the prisoners buried their dead and returned to the trucks. The Germans had shifted the loads in the trucks in preparation for their departure.

"Troy, it looks like some of them are getting ready to leave. The trucks are all starting."

Troy twisted around to stare at the convoy. He rubbed his tired eyes before focusing the glasses on the scene across the valley.

"Yeah. It looks like Dietrich and his column are staying behind." The two sergeants watched with renewed hope as the prisoners and the captured trucks drove away.

"What's that?" Moffitt's clipped tones took on an edge as several men approached Dietrich with a radio.

"Looks like one of our radios." Troy stated uneasily. "Now why would Dietrich need one of our radios?"

"Precisely." Moffitt muttered, watching the Germans. "It doesn't appear that his unit suffered much damage; surely they have radios of their own."

"Yeah." Troy said again, distracted by the action across the valley.

"Hey Sarge!"

Troy turned to look back at the jeeps where Hitch was fiddling with the radio. Tully was pulling their code book out from under the seat. Throwing a knowing look at Moffitt, Troy slid down the slope toward the jeeps.

Moffitt glanced once more toward the disappearing trucks before he followed Troy, moving more cautiously than the American sergeant.

Troy was busily decoding the message when Moffitt stopped by his side. He wrote furiously as the radio message ended and began to repeat itself. There were gun shots from the valley as the message repeated. They all recognized the distinctive sounds of both German and American guns.

Moffitt spun around and clawed his way back to the top of the dune as the message repeated, punctuated by the sounds of gunfire. The message ended and so did the sounds of gun fire from the valley. Troy's face was pinched in a frown as he read what he had written.

"I take it that the convoy is asking for assistance." Moffitt smiled as he returned to the jeeps.

Troy looked up from his pad, still frowning.

"My guess is that they are asking headquarters to send out a relief column to rescue them. They probably reported fighting off the Germans but being disabled and needing help." The Englishman continued.

"Yeah, how did you know?"

Moffitt shrugged, settling into the passenger seat of Troy's jeep. "Dietrich has an American radio when his own radios are clearly operational. They just staged a gun battle using both American and German rifles; and all of this happened as the message was coming in. And, of course," the Brit added, "we all know that the convoy is in his hands."

"And they sent the convoy on ahead while his unit is still sitting here." Troy expanded on the British sergeant's theory.

Moffitt shrugged again. "The rescue column won't find the convoy, but they will find the 'good' Captain and his column."

Troy was shaking his head as the plan became clear. "I wonder when they broke our codes?"

"I would think that it was a rather recent development. This is the first convoy that they have managed to intercept. That would suggest that they weren't able to locate the others to stop them."

"Yeah," Troy responded, deep in thought. "If headquarters sends a relief column, Dietrich will be waiting. They won't have much of a chance if they're surprised. Dietrich will have all the advantages."

"It does appear that, like a spider, he has spun a web to capture them. We have to warn them." Moffitt stated.

"Not yet." Troy decided. "The relief column won't be able to get here before morning. They may start today but they will have to camp for the night. I doubt that the captain will go looking for them; he'll wait for them to come to him. That way he can dig in and pick the battle site." Troy was picturing the map in his mind, going over possible scenarios.

"That makes sense." Moffitt agreed.

"We are going to warn them, aren't we Sarge?" Hitch asked as the sergeants went quiet.

"Yeah Hitch, but not right away." Troy glanced at the others. "If we send a message, Dietrich will decipher it and know we're on to him. If we go back to warn them, we lose the convoy."

"What do you have in mind?" Tully asked with a hopeful grin.

"Well Tully, you've heard that old saying; 'oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive'. " Troy smiled at the lanky private, "I was thinking that maybe we can tangle that web a bit more. It seems likely that that convoy is going to stop for the night too." He looked at the others with a smile on his face. "What if we were to pay them a visit once they turn in for the night?" He glanced at Moffitt. "From what we saw, they didn't send a lot of guards with the prisoners and the trucks." He rolled his head and considered what he wanted to say. "I think we can handle them if we do it right."

"You want to take the convoy back?" Moffitt asked with a twinkle in his eye.

"Yeah, I do." Troy admitted.

Moffitt laughed with delight. "Sounds like a plan to me."

"Let's do it Sarge." Hitchcock agreed eagerly.

"Sounds like fun." Tully added.

"Okay, let's shake it." Troy laughed. "We don't want Dietrich to spot us here and we don't want to lose that convoy."

The four men climbed into their jeeps and drove away slowly so they wouldn't raise a trail of dust for the Germans to see.

Behind them, Captain Dietrich continued to position his unit so they could surprise the relief column the American commanders had promised to send. The spider had his web, now all that remained was for the prey to get stuck in it.


	3. Chapter 3

**The Spider and the Rats**

By: AliasCWN

Chapter 3

The convoy put some distance between them and the Captain's ambush. The officer in charge had orders to camp for the night and continue on to the base in the morning. As the trucks pulled into the wadi for shelter from the night winds, he instructed his men to park the trucks close together. The wadi was small for the number of vehicles but Dietrich had chosen it for just that reason. If searchers were hunting the trucks, they would search the larger wadis first.

The prisoners were allowed to stretch their legs and the lieutenant ordered them fed before he had them returned to the truck. Posting guards, he ordered the rest of his men to bed down since they were leaving early in the morning. The German troops arranged their blankets close together; there wasn't much room in the wadi with the trucks in there. The camp soon got quiet, the only movement being that of the sentries patrolling the perimeter of the camp.

Two sentries roved the perimeter of the camp as the others slept. Their only company, the two men assigned to guard the prisoners. Moving slowly, tired from the long drive in the heat, they yawned frequently. The desert nights were cold so they huddled down in their heavy coats with the collars turned up, trying to stay warm. Each one had an assigned area to patrol, meeting, but never overlapping their paths. The stars twinkled brightly in the dark sky as there was very little moonlight to dim their light. Each guard placed his feet carefully so that he wouldn't turn an ankle on the uneven ground.

The guards were so intent on keeping warm and avoiding a sprained ankle that they missed the darker shadows creeping up on them. With a sudden, silent rush, two of the shadows separated themselves from the natural ones and reached for the sentries. There was no moonlight to flash on the knives as they finished their gory task. Both guards fell without a sound to disturb those sleeping below.

Mark Hitchcock gave Troy a thumbs-up as he relieved the guard of his weapons and checked for a pulse. Finding none, he rose to a crouch and faded back into the shadows, taking the weapons with him.

On the other side of the camp, Tully Pettigrew was repeating his actions. Moffitt provided cover for him in case anyone alerted the camp. Taking the weapons, the two groups met near the trucks.

"Tully, Hitch, take the guards guarding the prisoners." Troy whispered in the darkness. The two privates nodded even though Troy was barely able to see them. "Moffitt and I will keep an eye on the rest of the Germans. Once you take out the guards, get the prisoners out of the truck. Arm all of them that you can and get them stationed around the camp. Make sure they understand the plan, I don't want any wild cards out there."

"Right Sarge." Both privates whispered.

"Once everyone is in position, we'll announce our presence." Troy looked at his men. "Be careful out there; we're only going to get one shot at this." He warned them seriously.

"We got it Sarge." Hitch answered as Tully nodded in agreement.

"Luck lads." Moffitt added to the warning.

"You too Sarge."

"Go." Troy ordered, hefting his own weapon in readiness.

The guards on the truck were close together. Hitch and Tully had to wait for them to separate on either side of the truck. The minutes ticked by as they worried that the perimeter sentries would be missed. Finally one of the guards walked around the side of the truck to look around.

His eyes searched for the perimeter guard, the moonless night making it hard to see. He stiffened as he began to suspect that something might be wrong. As he turned to call to the other guard, a dark form slipped out from under the truck and put a hand over his mouth. He reached for the hand to pull it away, his rifle forgotten for a moment, his thoughts on shouting an alarm. The knife in his back ended his thoughts on shouting, permanently. The dark form pulled his body underneath the truck and moved to the back of the truck holding the prisoners.

The body of the second guard had already been stuffed underneath the truck.

Hitch nodded to Tully, indicating that he should keep watch. Tully returned the nod and positioned himself to cover the rear of the truck. Hitch moved cautiously up until he could touch the tailgate.

"Psst." Hitch tried to get the attention of the prisoners without alerting the Germans. "Psst. Is anyone awake in there?"

"Who's out there?" A voice whispered back.

"Rat Patrol." Hitch responded. "How many of you can fight?"

There was a pause before the voice from inside answered. "All but one. There are thirty of us. Nine are wounded but eight of those can still fight." The other voice asserted hopefully.

Hitch carefully pulled the canvas aside to face the prisoners. The men were all crowding toward the tailgate.

"We can't use all of you." Hitch explained. "We don't have enough weapons. If this goes south, anyone caught outside will probably be shot. We can't let unarmed men take that risk; we'll only take the ones we can arm. We have enough weapons for maybe ten men. The rest will have to wait here."

There was a sudden commotion as the prisoners whispered urgently among themselves.

"Quiet!" Hitch whispered. "We don't want the camp awake until we are in position."

The prisoners glared at him resentfully.

"All right Private." The lieutenant by the tailgate agreed. "This is your party; we'll do it your way. Ten men." He picked out ten volunteers quickly, hushing the ones forced to stay behind.

"We'd take you all Lieutenant, but we don't have enough weapons. We do have two more men watching the camp. Tully and I will take you to your positions and explain the plan." Hitch looked at the volunteers who had been chosen. "Can you follow our orders?"

"They'll do whatever you tell them Private." The Lieutenant promised, meeting the eyes of his men.

"Okay, let's do this."

The ten chosen prisoners followed the two privates, accepting the weapons they were offered. Tully took half of them in one direction while Hitch took the rest in the other direction. They hurriedly explained the plan and stationed them in strategic positions.

"Okay, you know what to do." Hitch explained to the last of the five men who had followed him. The man nodded. "Wait for the signal." The blond left him to rejoin the sergeants. Tully arrived a minute later.

"All right, show time." Troy told his men, waiting for their nods. Troy shifted his position as his men separated. When he was sure that they were in position, he fired a short burst of bullets into the center of the camp.


	4. Chapter 4

**The Spider and the Rats**

By: AliasCWN

Chapter 4

The Germans awoke with a start and grabbed for their weapons. A voice called to them, in German, to surrender. More shots rang out, driving back any soldier who tried to move from the center of the camp. The men, fresh from sleep, cowered on the ground, unsure where the enemy was hiding. The voice called again for their surrender. The unknown speaker informed them that they were surrounded, and that they would not be harmed, if they dropped their weapons.

Thinking that the darkness would hide his movements, one of the Germans tried to hide in the shadows, raising his rifle to try to find the speaker.

There was a grunt and the soldier sprawled on the ground, unconscious. The other Germans peered into the darkness fearfully.

Again they were told to surrender or face annihilation. The German lieutenant tried to locate the enemy but it was too dark. Defeated, he ordered his troops to surrender. The ex-prisoners moved forward at Troy's command and collected the weapons. While some stood guard, the others returned to the truck to arm the rest of the Americans and let the Lieutenant know that he once again had a convoy to deliver.

"Sergeant Troy?"

"Yes Sir." Troy saluted the American lieutenant, motioning for Moffitt to join them.

"Thank you Sergeant, I certainly wasn't looking forward to spending the rest of the war in some POW camp."

"Don't blame you Lieutenant."

"So this is your show Sergeant, where do we go from here?"

"Can you get this convoy to your destination if we can keep the krauts off your tail?"

The Lieutenant looked around at his men and nodded. "I believe so Sergeant."

"Good. We'll get you started Lieutenant. We'll lead you part of the way but we're going to have to leave right away. Night travel will slow you down but you will have to try it. I don't care if you go all the way tonight but we need you to get out of the area. There may well be another German column on its way here."

"Understood Sergeant, I'll get the men organized and ready to move. Let me know when you're ready."

"Thank you Sir. We'll let you handle the prisoners. The krauts have an ambush waiting back there; we have to warn the relief column. We need to intercept them before morning so we're running on a tight schedule. I'd appreciate it if you could hurry things up a bit."

"Can do Sergeant." The Lieutenant called to his sergeant and between them they got the convoy ready to roll in record time.

With the two jeeps of the Rat Patrol leading the way, the trucks drove slowly across the desert, feeling their way along in the dark. Troy had Tully and Hitch take turns leading the convoy while the other jeep brought up the rear or ranged ahead to watch for the Germans.

When they were back on their original course and Troy felt that they were far enough from the ambush site to be on their own, he had Hitch halt in front of the lead truck.

Walking back to the first truck, he informed the Lieutenant of their location. "Can your guys find their way from here Lieutenant?"

"I'm sure that they can Sergeant. We'll keep moving, taking it slow for another couple of hours, and then we'll take a rest break in a wadi along the road. Thank you Sergeant and good luck."

"Good luck to you Lieutenant. Remember, there may be another German column headed this way, keep your eyes open."

"We don't want to get into a fight with them again Sergeant, we'll stay alert."

Troy saluted and stepped aside to allow the truck to continue on its way. Hitch, seeing the truck pull out, swung off the road to get out of the way. Making a circle, he looped back to pick up Troy.

"Let's pick up Tully and Moffitt; we have to find the relief column before they run into Dietrich's trap." As soon as he settled into his seat Troy started issuing orders. He was already trying to decide where the relief column had camped for the night. He knew they would be up and heading out at first light, and morning was not far off.

Swinging well clear of where Dietrich was dug in, the Rat Patrol kept to the road as much as possible. The flat, clear path was packed hard by caravans and convoys making travel faster than cutting across the desert. They weren't expecting anyone else along that stretch of road since it led straight to the Allied base and Dietrich lay in wait behind them.

Troy looked over at the other jeep and was dismayed to realize that he could see the features of its occupants. The sun was already peeking up over the horizon looking like a huge golden ball sitting half buried in the sand. Knowing that the relief column would soon be on the move, he searched the road ahead, hoping that they hadn't passed it during the night. Being on a tight schedule, with no time to lose, they hadn't checked the wadis along the way to see if the column was camped in any of them. As the sun brightened the sky and chased away the darkness, the jeep picked up speed. They were racing the last of the shadows across the desert floor when Troy finally spotted the column of vehicles in the distance.

He tapped Hitch on the shoulder and pointed. The blond nodded and eased his foot off the gas, allowing the little vehicle to slow. Tully caught up and pulled alongside. Troy pointed for Moffitt, a relieved smile leaving a white streak of teeth in his dust encrusted face. The Brit nodded tiredly, yawning as he leaned over to talk to Tully.

Troy called a halt to let the column approach them.


	5. Chapter 5

**The Spider and the Rats**

By: AliasCWN

Chapter 5

The American column moved slowly across the desert sands, its lead jeeps sweeping back and forth as if looking for something. The loose formation left the vehicles scattered in a jagged line, not their usual tight formation. As they drew closer to the ambush site, the commander called a halt. The entire column stopped as he pulled maps from his tank and called his officers to an impromptu meeting. They gathered around the tank and pointed at the map, occasionally pointed in one direction or another around them.

The commander glanced at his watch and nodded. Sending his men back to their own vehicles, they waited for the signal, which wasn't long in coming. While the Germans had been watching the column hold its meeting, they had missed the four men of the Rat Patrol as they crawled into position leading extra men from the relief column.

The signal was a hand grenade exploding along the tread of one of Dietrich's hidden tanks. Disabled as the grenade blew the tread apart, the tank was swarmed by more men with grenades. The halftracks exposed themselves to attack the small group of Americans spoiling their surprise. Machine guns opened fire on the halftrack crews, hitting them and blowing the gas tanks. With each explosion, the German forces became more and more flustered and disorganized.

Realizing that his trap had sprung on him, Dietrich ordered his tanks to attack. By now the American tanks had fired up their engines and were forming a circle around Dietrich's forces. His carefully laid plans had not included this scenario and his men were ill prepared for the position they now found themselves facing.

The American tanks pushed the advantage of surprise and moved against Dietrich's armor. Shells flew back and forth, pretty much ignored by the men still trying to take the last of the halftracks.

Mark Hitchcock led the charge to the top of the dune where he and the men following him dropped to their stomachs to fire at a halftrack just over the other side.

Sam Troy, leading another group of men, raced to hit the same halftrack from a different direction. The Germans, caught between the two groups, fought back valiantly. Troy ducked some bullets and rolled to the side to find a new position.

A familiar voice cried out and he looked in time to see Hitchcock roll back down the hill holding both hands over his face. Just then the bullets began hitting the sand next to him and he had to return his focus to the halftrack. With renewed determination, he targeted the enemy gunner, reducing their firepower to the slightly less lethal rifles. The soldiers with him pressed their attack. With the heavy machine gun out of commission, they soon took the crew of the halftrack out of the fight.

Troy saw Tully lead his group in a grenade charge against the final halftrack. The armored vehicle was no match for the three grenades that landed squarely in the rear. Smoke and shrapnel belched from the heart of the vehicle, silencing its crew permanently.

The German troops were still showing some resistance but the Americans had planned their surprise well. Having the tables turned on them had taken a lot of the fight out of Dietrich's men. Slowly, the Americans pushed them into small pockets and outgunned them.

The tanks had engaged each other in the open, slugging it out. Dietrich had lost half of his tanks as they left their hiding places. One had been hit as it struggled in the loose sand; trying to pull out of the hole its crew had dug to hide it. Another slid down the slope of the dune sideways, leaving it vulnerable to its American counterpart.

Conceding defeat, Dietrich called to his remaining commanders to retreat and salvage what vehicles still fought.

Seeing the tanks pulling away, Troy left the clean up to the officer from the relief column. Clawing his way to the top of the dune where he had last seen his driver, he saw the blond lying motionless at the bottom of the slope.

Tully stood with his back to Troy, beside Moffitt, who was kneeling over Hitch. Troy couldn't see anyone's face and he feared the worst.

"Moffitt?"

Moffitt turned at the strangled cry behind him, alarm on his face. His eyes ran over Troy's body, searching for injuries. Seeing that Troy was uninjured, he smiled, realizing the reason for the tortured cry.

"He's all right Troy. The bullets kicked sand into his eyes; he couldn't see. He was quick enough to roll out of the line of fire and had enough sense to keep his eyes closed and not rub them. I think I've managed to wash all the grit out without scratching his eyes."

Hitch stirred and Moffitt turned back to help him sit up. Troy studied the water streaked face, looking for signs of distress. The blond blinked repeatedly and his eyes looked red but he smiled brightly. Troy let his muscles relax, giving way to relief.

"Okay Hitch, you, and Tully go get the jeeps." The two privates nodded and Tully reached down to help Hitch to his feet.

"Thanks Doc." Hitch said with a grin.

"Any time Hitch." Moffitt replied with a smile. "If they start to bother you, come to me, don't rub them."

"Got it Sarge."

When the jeeps pulled up in the middle of all the chaos, Troy and Moffitt were deep in conversation with the column commander.

"The supply column arrived at their destination Sergeant. Headquarters wants us to deliver the rations that the Germans were forced to leave behind."

"Maybe we should get them loaded then Sir; we're pretty sure that there is another German column headed this way to pick them up." Troy encouraged the column commander to load the supplies in the spare trucks they had brought along.

They used every man they could spare from guarding the prisoners or watching the desert. The men formed lines to pass the rations from one truck to another, stacking them neatly so they would all fit. Once loaded, the column followed the proposed route of the convoy to the dug in battalion. They were greeted with cheers as they arrived since rations were running low. Despite their complaints about the food, each and every man there preferred them to starvation.

Headquarters, upon receiving the preliminary report of the relief column, ordered the Rat Patrol to wait and accompany the column on its return trip. Since they weren't leaving until the following morning, Troy and his men requested tent assignments so they could get some sleep. With the relief column in camp, space was limited, so the clerk hesitantly told them they would have to share one tent. The expected argument never materialized as each man nodded wearily. They parked their jeeps next to the tent, pulled their blankets out of the back, and fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillows.

When the German shells started raining down on the camp, they slept through nearly all of it. The base personnel were able to drive the attacking force away before they did much damage, but by then the Rat Patrol was awake.


	6. Chapter 6

**The Spider and the Rats**

By:AliasCWN

Chapter 6

Captain Dietrich directed the attack on the American camp. It couldn't really be called a base, it was small and undermanned. His hopes of starving them out had been delayed, but he hoped that he would get another chance.

Having fled the battlefield after losing the element of surprise and then the encounter; Dietrich had met up with his other column. Not strong enough to take on the relief column, he had contented himself with hitting the camp and doing as much damage as possible before the Americans could launch a counterattack.

Now, having struck the base, he was once again retreating, hoping that the Americans would get overconfident and only send a small force after him. Most of his column had stayed hidden, kept out of sight until the right moment. He held them back, planning to use them against the forces that chased him after the attack. If the Americans were foolish enough to believe that his force was small, maybe he could still score a victory, if only a small one.

His halftrack led the way across the sand, leaving a trail of dust hanging in the air that made it easy to follow. Keeping an eye on the sky behind him, he could make out a small trail of dust following him. He ran on for another mile before he stopped to climb a dune and look behind him. He smiled as he counted one truck, most likely carrying troops, and two tanks following him.

Leading them toward his hidden backup, he prepared to close his latest trap, sealing the small party inside.

The dreaded rattle of 50 caliber machine guns shattered his sense of anticipation. Spinning around to search for the two jeeps he knew were close by, he shouted orders over his radio.

The trucks and the tanks had stopped at the first sound of gunfire. They were now retreating toward the camp, avoiding a fight altogether. Dietrich ground his teeth in frustration and reluctantly let his anticipated prizes slip away.

His entire focus was centered on the two fast moving jeeps that had already destroyed two of his trucks and damaged another halftrack. They were hardly a match for his tanks but they were also a hard target for those same tanks. They darted among his column like bats after bugs, seeming to have their own radar to avoid the shells.

He watched, torn between frustration and admiration as they skillfully avoided being hit while they systematically dismantled his carefully planned ambush.

One last pass and without any obvious signal, both jeeps broke away in opposite directions and abandoned the attack. All he could do was fume helplessly as they regrouped and disappeared in a cloud of dust and smoke, leaving his column in shambles.


End file.
